


The Marian Solution

by nerdhourariel



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-02-11 07:21:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2059074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdhourariel/pseuds/nerdhourariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time is unraveling, things are changing that shouldn't be and it's up to Roland and Katrina Locksley to fix it. All while trying to avoid getting involved in the growing ice problem in past Storybrooke (total time travel ridiculous fun and hopefully angst free) full on Outlaw Queen mentions of Frankenwolf, Captain Swan and Rumbelle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Ripple Effect

It had started as a forgotten memory, nothing unusual, nothing that screamed warning. Just a little haze where a memory used to be. But people forget things all the time. It wasn't until there were large gaps that they began to realize something was wrong. And when it started affecting everyone, then they realized it wasn't an isolated incident.

It had gotten worse with Neal Nolan arriving at her castle's doorstep confused as to where he was, as if he hadn't been to the castle before. But he had, countless times. And then it had continued onto Snow, asking after someone named Elsa. But Regina didn't remember the ice Queen Snow was referring to.

And then Peter Whale arrived, asking why his father had been turned to ice. When Regina asked how it had happened Peter couldn't remember. His response had been, "he's always been ice." But Peter hadn't disappeared. Some magic was keeping him alive and altering the past.

When Robin and Regina had lost the memories of their wedding, to be replaced with a feeling of deep loss and longing that was when they knew they needed help. Something had changed. Or someone was changing it and it wasn't happening in the present. And when they went to see Rumplestiltskin, tucked away in his castle with Belle, he confirmed what they had already suspected.

"It would seem Miss Swan has had an adventure through time and she changed something," he said, "or brought something back with her that's changing it."

"I remember her going through the portal, but her and Hook came back alone. Right?" Robin asked, looking to his wife, still calling her his wife for as long as he could remember. It was all becoming a haze. Neither one sure what was real and what had changed, what was now becoming what had always been. He was clinging desperately to the remaining memories. To memories of Roland calling her mom, to their daughter's birth, a daughter that could soon disappear.

There were memories of cold. Of ice and deep snow over the town of Storybrooke that hadn't existed before and memories of their life were fading. A quiet wedding in town hall. A child's laugh. A final goodbye to the town they called home.

Regina nodded, "Unless now they didn't."

"That's not possible, is it?" He asked, feeling like the only one in the room who didn't understand.

"Time travel isn't an exact science. Whatever happens, there's a ripple effect." Belle dropped a book on the table, opening it up to theories on time travel, "Enough ripples, or one big change, and everything spirals. It doesn't explain why we're remembering it. Or why it's slowly happening."

"So there was a change. How do we change it back?" Regina asked.

"We don't," Rumplestiltskin told her quietly. He had become more subdued since they returned to the enchanted forest for a third and final time. Maybe it was Belle, maybe it was the loss of his son or his long life catching up to him, but he was more Mr. Gold less manic imp. It was safer for them to be here, no threats waiting, aside from the occasional angry villager, no organizations Hell bent on destroying magic. Oh yes, they had returned with a vengeance, and it wasn't Pan's crew trying to get Henry to Neverland. No, these were very real agents with very real hatred towards magic. And when they came for Storybrooke, the only solution was to erase it once again.

It had been alright. Regina and Robin had returned to her castle, Snow and David had theirs. Aurora and Philip their own. Cinderella and her Prince as well. The Kingdoms had been divided peacefully and the land flourished. Emma and Hook had sailed off with Henry, though he would return to the castle when he so chose. It was a good arrangement. Everyone was happy.

Until now, when it was all threatened and unraveling. When that life didn't exist or was beginning to un-exist, whatever it was called. Regina was taken aback, do nothing, she couldn't do nothing. She was the former Evil Queen she had magic to spare, she couldn't do nothing.

"What do you mean we don't, Imp?" Regina's voice rose in its power, the Evil Queen shining through. Robin would never admit it to others, but to her, in the privacy of their bedroom he loved that voice.

"We can't. Not when we're unsure of what's real and what isn't. We could risk making it worse," he giggled, the old him shining through, a plan coming together in his mind, "but perhaps there's someone who shares your desperation and who would easily spot the difference. Someone who wouldn't be recognized."

"No." Regina paced. She knew it was the best plan. The only plan. But it was too risky, what if she was hurt? All alone in the town with no one to help her, no one who knew her. And how would she get back? How would she fix it?

"What? What is he talking about?" Robin watched Regina, the concern etched on his face, shining through the lines around his eyes. _She_ had his eyes. Regina might never see her eyes again if they didn't do this. Or her dark hair, or hear her laugh or her arguing with Roland.

"Katrina."

Robin was silent at the answer and Regina could see the gears turning in his mind. Weighing the risks just as she had.

"She can't go alone," Robin responded after minutes of silence.

"She can't go at all," Regina argued.

"She has to, there's no one else."

"There are a few others I can think of. Neal. I'm sure he'd love to prove himself on an adventure. Family trait and all."

"That we trust to do this? Who we know can do this?"

Regina sighed, he wasn't wrong. Even with her burying the hatchet with the Charmings, she didn't want to place her future in the hands of Neal Nolan. The prince was bright eyed and hopeful like Snow and just as insufferable. Katrina was capable. She would listen, she had always listened.

It was something of a shock to Regina to finally have a child that listened to her. Henry and Roland, they were adamant at doing things their way. In the year before returning to Storybrooke when Zelena had been the problem, Roland had been told time and time again to stop wandering the castle and to stop sneaking around Regina. But he hadn't listened and so he had endeared himself to her and as he grew older that rebelliousness continued and had gotten him into some scrapes along the way. He always managed to get out of it, something Robin said ran in the family, that or someone was helping him get out of it.

"Roland should go with her," Regina stated.

"Is that wise? He'll be in Storybrooke already," Robin argued.

"He'll be about five. He won't even notice."

"Almost six and I assure you he will."

"Do you want to send Neal with her? Or Peter Whale?"

Robin conceded.

"Good then it's settled. I'll work up the ingredients, shouldn't be too hard to modify." Rumple giggled, already flipping through the book.

"You should get them ready, warn them," Belle said, her voice dripping with sympathy.

"No, I was just going to throw them through the portal," Regina sneered, heading towards the door. Robin smiled at Belle with a grateful look, following his wife. It was then that he was hit with a new memory, of an old face returning, of the happiness and dread in his heart. Regina saw it too, the reunion in the diner and her heart broke all over again. Marian. She had returned. That was the change. That was the break in time. A woman supposed to die who didn't.

What was the solution for that? And could Regina ask her daughter to kill her son's mother? Or her son to watch it happen?

* * *

  _So this is just a fun stupid time travel story that I'm doing. I know a bunch of people have these kinds of fix it or kids going to the past story too, but I just wanted to write one. And for anyone following my hunger games story, the 100th games I'm still working on that._

_This is unbeta'd so any mistakes are all on me._

_Not mine - to be continued_


	2. Portals and Reckless Children

Roland had been six when Katrina was born and had always been told to watch out for her. Not that she was breakable, not that she was fragile, but she had a penchant for recklessness that seemed to come and go in all Locksley’s. He had it too, so when she was old enough she had received the same speech from their father. Keep each other safe and always watch each other’s backs. And they had kept their word. But it had become increasingly difficult over the years as she got better at hiding than he was at finding her.

And he needed to find her now.

The crumpled message in his hand had been read and re-read over a hundred times. It was simple. “Meet us in the dining hall once we return.” That was it but it held a thousand secrets and a million different meanings.

Roland wasn’t stupid. In his twenty-three years of life he liked to think he wasn’t stupid. He knew there was something happening to his family. Had noticed it when Regina had stared at him with wide eyes and asked when he had gotten so tall or his hair so much longer. She had always played with his hair, told him that he needed a hair-cut time and time again, and he’d cut it when she asked, but this was different. This wasn’t the loving tug at his curls telling him they were out of control before he had them cut. This was a failure to recognize him. This was shock and awe, like he’d been away for so long she was seeing him for the first time.

He had heard stories back in Storybrooke, stories about people losing themselves to disease and not magic. He worried this was what it was and had considered writing Henry to come home, to fetch a doctor and fix it. Henry would know what to do. He had always known back when Roland was growing up and had been the person Roland would go to for advice nearly every time he needed it. But Henry had just gotten married and was traveling the lands with his wife. And Roland didn’t want to bother him with this if he wasn’t sure what it was.

And when there were stories of others losing memory and time, wondering when they had come back to the enchanted forest before suddenly saying they’d always been here, Roland knew magic was responsible for this.

He didn’t fear magic, not like others in the villages, not like Katrina who was born with it but afraid to use it. He loved watching his mother light a candle or make a flower appear. He still kept the monkey she had conjured for him in his bedroom. He wasn’t afraid of magic, but he was afraid of this magic. Because there were new memories coming to him now too. Memories of a woman named Marian who he was supposed to love as his mother but he couldn’t. He shook them away, they weren’t real, they couldn’t be real.

Whatever this magic was, it needed to be fixed. And he hoped his parents had a solution.

\---

Katrina Locksley loaded the bow and fired once, missing the target completely. She sighed, counting the arrows that had hit the target. Two for three. Always two for three. She wasn’t as good as her father or Roland, but she was two for three.

And that was an improvement over one for three.

She had been old enough to hold a bow at five but hadn’t actually fired it until she was ten. And seven years later, two for three wasn’t bad.

She fired again, the arrow sailed past the target into the woods. There was a soft thud, the sound of someone falling over. Her eyes widened.

Usually no one was out in this part of the forest. The village was close but they were too afraid to come near the Evil Queen’s castle, even after all these years. They still feared her. And if Katrina had accidentally killed someone in this forest, they’d never let the moniker die. She’d probably be called the murdering princess or some other title.

She half considered running, but knew her father would never forgive her for leaving someone she’d injured. So she ran towards the fallen stranger, rather than away, but found no one lying on the opposite side.

Then the laughter came and her worried expression turned to annoyance.

“Peter.” She turned to find the tall boy, sixteen, with light brown hair and dark eyes smiling. In the afternoon sun they looked almost golden.

“For a second, I thought you were gonna run and leave me here,” he said, laughing, turning the arrow in his hands.

She snatched the arrow from him. “For a second, I was.”

“Good thing it takes more than an arrow to kill me. I hope.” He hopped over a log, his grin still wide.

“Yeah well I’m sure turning into a dog is super helpful in situations such as these. And I would love to discuss them further but I have to go now.”

He stepped in front of her, his smile fading, “Wait.”

“What?”

“I just…um…” he shrugged. She watched him, eyebrows raised; waiting for him to come up with some response, but it never came.

“Goodbye, Peter.”

He watched her leave, staring after the green cloak trailing behind her. It wasn’t until Roland tapped him on the shoulder that he stopped himself from staring at the empty space.

“Hey Peter,” Roland greeted.

“She went that way.” Peter pointed.

“I figured.” And with that Roland was gone after his sister and Peter turned around to walk home.

He didn’t live far from the castle, just on the edge of the forest with his mother, father, an older brother, a younger brother and sister. They were twins. They all ran about a year apart, and after the twins were born their Granny had moved out. She could only take so many puppies as she lovingly called them before she passed.

The house was a safe space away from the villages where they could run every full moon without fear. His older brother was content to run and find his happiness with others like themselves, but Peter was more like his father. That was what his mother had told him. He had a mind for science, for knowledge and finding the truth in magic. But he believed in magic, was a product of it all the same. But it didn’t stop him from wanting to find what the world offered in its wake.

His father was a statue of ice now and his mother could not wake him. Not with true love’s kiss, because she soon forgot him, and there was no magic to fix it. And he had looked in every book he could find. But there was no solution. His father was ice, had always been ice, and would always be ice. But it didn’t make sense that he and his brothers and his sister were still there.

And he had memories of his father, of the two of them reading about electricity, of his father teaching him about how ecosystems work and how life works. But his father was ice. And Peter wanted to know why. And the only person who would know why was Queen Regina.

And Peter was told not to fear her but he had heard stories. And those stories had kept him awake at night, long after he had stumbled across Katrina in the woods. When he had learned she was the princess that had caused more distress. His parents had been helpful in dealing with that.

“You’re afraid of the past. Of stories, and the past may be a dark place, but it is not a darkness that will hurt you as long as you remember the future is always bright,” his father had said.

“That there’s hope,” his mother had added and they had shared a smile that spoke volumes. A smile that had come with nearly the same conversation long ago sitting before dark water where a doctor had thought about ending it all and a werewolf had saved him. Monster to monster.

And that was threatened now. That was disappearing. They were wrong. The past can hurt you. It was hurting him now. There were no smiles, they were gone. And he needed to fix it.

So he stopped himself from going home and turned to follow Roland. To find answers.

\---

“What kind of plan is that?!” Katrina asked, throwing her arms up as she stared at her parents.

“Katrina,” Robin tried.

“You want to throw me through a portal to the past, where you two are in some kind of angst ridden we can’t be with each other because my wife is back from the dead thing. And you want me to fix it?”

“Us,” Roland added.

“Right. Us to fix it?”

“Yes,” Regina said, stoic and staring Katrina down. It was unnerving to the sixteen year old. Her mother had her moments, especially when she was about to lay down a punishment for breaking something that had totally been an accident and Roland’s fault, but this was different. This was fear. Real fear. And Regina tried to hide it but couldn’t.

“How?” Katrina asked, her voice quiet, scared just as much as her mother.

“I don’t know,” Regina answered.

“Our memories are changing so there’s no way for us to be able to tell you what to do. Because we don’t know what’s going on in the past.” Robin sighed, “You can do this. Both of you.”

“Yeah, I’m still not clear on what my role is in this?” Roland asked, crossing his arms.

“You have memories of Storybrooke, you can navigate it,” Robin answered. “I know it’s a lot to ask son.”

“But if my memories change while we’re there, if I forget--” Roland glanced to Katrina. He couldn’t imagine forgetting her. Every argument, every dumb thing they ever did, stealing sweets from the kitchens before dinner, shooting an apple off her head, that had earned him several weeks of being grounded, but it was worth it. He couldn’t imagine it all being gone. And if it happened when they were in the past, who would help her?

“It’s a risk we have to take,” Katrina said, “I’m not going by myself. So get over it.”

“Well when you say it so nicely, I guess I have no choice.” Roland smiled and Regina couldn’t help but do the same. She was proud of them. Proud of her taking that leap towards this, towards redemption. It had been Hell to get here, but it was worth it. That hadn’t changed, that hadn’t been stolen yet, and she hoped it wouldn’t be.

“Do you know who caused it?” Roland asked.

“We have an idea,” Regina took a breath, searching through her memories new and old to find the answer, “Emma and Hook went back in time and brought someone or someone’s back. I’m still not clear on it.”

“Marian,” Roland answered.

Robin stared at his son. “You remember?”

“It’s hazy. I’m not sure what it is really. I don’t feel anything though.” Roland shrugged, turning towards Regina as if to assuage any fears of him forgetting her.

Robin nodded in agreement. Marian returning should have been a happy memory for him but all it brought was conflict in him and a deep knot in his stomach. He could feel a distance growing between them even if it was small, it was there. He didn’t want it to be there, the wall that was being built around her heart. The wall he had climbed and broken so long ago.

“And…it’s cold,” Roland added.

Robin knew what Roland was talking about. He could feel it too. The biting cold covering the town, the snow that followed. But the memories faded in and out.

“So someone’s back from the dead and something is making the town cold? That’s not a lot to go on.” Katrina sighed.

“But it’s better than nothing,” Roland told her.

She shrugged, “Fair enough. How much time do we have?”

“I don’t know.” Regina pulled Katrina into a hug, Roland after. And that was when Rumple appeared.

“When time is running out, no time at all.” He laughed; holding a bottle in his hand whose colors swirled and changed.

“I’m gonna need my bow,” Roland said, quickly leaving the room.

“I’m with you on that.” Katrina followed him out.

“I hope they don’t have a shoot first ask questions later policy,” Rumple said with a giggle. “Unlike some people I know.” He glanced to Robin.

“That’s not my policy.”

“Remind me, how did you two meet again in Storybrooke.” He pointed between the former outlaw and the former Evil Queen.

Regina rolled her eyes, though the memory made her smirk. But the smirk fell as she watched the empty space where her children had been standing. Robin watched the door, waiting for them to come back, soaking in every last minute with them before he could no longer protect them from their quest.

He looked to his wife, unable to speak, unable to voice his fears. It was all happening too fast. He could lose them. Their children might not come home, whatever was happening in Storybrooke could destroy them. And the gap between him and Regina was growing, he could feel it. It was like a pit being dug between them and at any moment they could fall in and never climb out.

And deep down Regina felt she deserved this unhappiness coming to her. That she had done so much to warrant fate’s vengeance. She had killed Marian and he knew. Right now he knew. And he was still standing beside her. There was no way this was going to end happily. She wasn’t going to have a happy ending. It was all going to be taken from her. And she deserved it.

As if reading her thoughts, he took her hand, pulled her closer to him and kissed her.

“It’s going to be okay.”

She shook her head. It was all so uncertain. Fate, soul mates, it didn’t mean a damn thing when everything was unraveling. When time had been rewritten.

He pressed his forehead to hers and breathed her in. She closed her eyes, taking in the comfort. No, this can’t be undone. Tinkerbelle had told her pixie dust doesn’t lie. She couldn’t lose this.

Rumple cleared his throat as Katrina and Roland returned, weapons in hand and cloaks wrapped around them. Roland’s hanging off one shoulder as he adjusted the quiver on his back.

Regina helped him straighten it out. Tying the cloak swiftly as she had done a thousand times when he was younger.

“You’re going to want to find some new clothes as soon as possible. To avoid being noticed.”

Roland nodded. “Thanks, mom.”

She tried to hold back tears. He might never call her that again. And she knew she’d still have Henry. She’d always have Henry. She hoped at least. But this was Roland and Roland wasn’t Henry. They were both her sons. And she remembered when she had lost Henry for a year and how much that had almost killed her. She couldn’t bear the loss of another son. Or her daughter.

She hugged him tightly once again, a final goodbye and before she could turn to Katrina, the girl barreled into her verging on tears of her own. And once again Regina questioned how she had gotten a daughter so loving as her own. How she had not screwed her up when her own mother was, well, her mother.

Katrina did the same to Robin. And Regina watched him say something to her that seemed to assuage the crying. He had always been good at that, getting her to calm down, to stop whatever hurt had come to her. Unless it was someone else’s doing that caused their daughter pain. Then it was always anger, and Regina was the same. She wasn’t the Evil Queen anymore, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t throw a few threats around towards whatever cretin disguised as a child had teased or hurt her own children.

When Roland had come back one day with a black eye and bruised knuckles, Regina had put the fear of God into the opponents’ parents. And that opponent had never even looked at her or Roland again. Robin hadn’t been happy about that, but he also hadn’t been terribly angry about it. Though she had promised not to threaten the village again. At least not before finding out all the details, like the fact that Roland had thrown the first punch, though she was sure it wasn’t unwarranted.

And now all those memories needed to be saved. Every good one and every bad. And when a new memory, of her running from Granny’s hit her full force with all the ache of the heartbreak she was suffering, she knew they couldn’t waste any more time with goodbyes. It was now or never.

“I’m sorry. We need to do this now.”

Rumple drew a circle in the center of the room in chalk, pointing to it. “You two, stand there.”

Robin hugged Roland goodbye, ruffling his hair after they broke apart. Regina planted a kiss on Roland’s forehead, before he stepped into the center of the circle. Katrina followed suit, putting on a brave face and wiping the last of her tears. There was a determination that took over, burying the pain with it, and Regina recognized the look. Had worn it herself many times before. She feared that look. Had feared it. But she didn’t fear it now. If anything it gave her comfort. Katrina could do this. She would do this.

“Hold tight, this is going to be a bit rough,” Rumple announced.

Robin’s hand shook as he gripped Regina’s. Rumple poured the liquid out into the circle, said some incantation in a language Robin didn’t know before having Roland and Katrina hold out their hands. He pricked each of their fingers, a drop of blood falling onto the clouded puddle on the floor.

“Now you,” he told Robin.

Robin held out his hand as Rumple pricked it. The blood falling into the circle.

“Blood calling to blood,” Rumple announced as the puddle swirled, hues of green and purple mixing before light broke through. Roland and Katrina stepped out of the circle as the magic took hold, the portal opening.

Robin’s heart pounded as the portal cracked the floor around them. Whatever this magic was, it was strong. The light grew to a blinding degree, a rush of sound howling off the wall, growing in volume every second.

“Jump!” Rumple shouted over the portal’s magic, the sound of the maelstrom echoing through the room.

Katrina and Roland took a further step back, fear taking root as Katrina gripped Roland’s arm.

“Well if you’re not going to do it yourself,” Rumple appeared behind them, shoving them into the portal, Katrina first, dragging Roland with her, “I guess I’ll have to help.”

And with that the portal closed, leaving a hole where the floor used to be. Regina looked to the empty space then to Rumple, her anger taking over. Robin was quick to follow suit, heading straight for the imp.

“You pushed them?!”

“I had to.”

“If you had given them a moment.” Robin’s hand curled into a fist.

“Then we would have all gone to the past and what would that have accomplished?”

Robin threw a punch but Rumple disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. Robin almost fell over at the lack of contact, his momentum thrown, but he caught himself. Regina sighed rubbing her temples. It was all so much.

“Who is that?” Robin asked, drawing Regina’s attention to the window where a teenage boy watched, mouth agape. Regina narrowed her eyes as the boy in the window jumped to the ground, realizing he had been caught.

“Peter,” she said in a low voice.

He ran. He ran as fast as he could as soon as his feet landed. They had been on the second story, easy enough for him to climb, even easier for him to jump from. But running from someone who had magic wasn’t easy. And he learned that the hard way as Regina appeared before him, raising a hand and with it him into the air.

His breath was panicked as he froze in the air. He dropped his gaze, avoiding eye contact, terrified. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to spy…”

“Then why were you looking through the window?” Regina raised her hand and he rose higher, unable to move.

“O-okay okay! I was spying.” She dropped him.

“Why?”

He caught his breath, finally managing to stand up. “I wanted to know what’s happening to everyone.” He brushed off his pants.

Regina sighed, “That’s none of your concern. It’s being handled that’s all that matters.”

“Actually it is my concern. My father…”

“Will soon be fixed. Go home, Peter.”

Regina walked away but Peter was just as adamant as both his parents. Regina had never had a problem with the wolf or the doctor. Whale had taken care of Henry every time the boy had been sick. Had helped Regina herself. And aside from Ruby helping Snow when she was on the run and later helping her take back the kingdom, Ruby hadn’t been a problem either. Their son, however, was quickly growing irritating.

“I can’t go home if there’s a way to stop this. I need to help.”

“There’s obviously no getting through to you.” And with that Regina waved her hands, smoke billowed around Peter and he found himself standing outside the cottage he called home.

But he didn’t go in. He knew someone who would give him answers. Someone who had also been in that room when the portal opened, who had opened it. Someone who everyone feared more than the Evil Queen. He knew he’d have to go to the Dark One. Though, he was afraid of what the cost might be. But it was for his family. He had to pay the price.

He’d figure this out. He’d get a solution and he’d fix it. He had to save his family.

* * *

_to be continued  
_


	3. New Arrivals

"Would you think less of me if I said I peed a little bit?" Roland asked, picking himself up off the ground. He brushed off the dust from his landing and held out a hand for his sister. There was a pain in his back from when he had landed. He was sure there'd be a bruise there come morning.

"Would you think less of me if I said I threw up in my mouth a little bit and then swallowed it back down?" Katrina grabbed his hand and stood, brushing herself off the same as him.

"How about we never talk about it?"

"Deal!"

And with that they high fived before immediately remembering they were in the middle of the woods where it was dark and it was cold. Very cold.

Roland pulled his cloak closer as Katrina yanked her hood down. Their breath came in clouds of mist and the frost had formed along the ground and trees.

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

"There wasn't one."

"Yeah, but that's never stopped you. So do you have a plan?"

"I don't even know where we are or what's going on, so no I don't have a plan, Roland." She paced. "But it's freezing and it's dark and I don't want to sleep outside so we should probably go into town, right?"

"We have to stay out of sight. And two people walking around wearing cloaks will draw attention."

"It's Storybrooke!" She threw up her hands. "There's a pirate walking around in leather, a werewolf, magic left and right, they're not gonna notice us."

"We could try the farm house where Zelena used to live," he offered.

Before she could argue, men's voices filled the woods, steadily growing closer.

"I saw it over there! It was some kind of light!" A voice shouted, it sounded like Little John.

"Do you think it's causing the cold? That it's some new magic?" Someone else asked. More voices added to the chaos.

"Is that-?" Katrina asked.

"The Merry Men," Roland finished with a smile. He took a step towards the voices, half expecting them to recognize him and ask about his adventures. But Katrina brought him back to the reality of the situation. This version of the Merry Men wouldn't recognize them, they weren't their family yet. Well, they were his, but he was much younger here, they wouldn't recognize him as he was now.

"Roland. What was the deal with going unnoticed?"

"Right." Roland grabbed Katrina and pulled her behind a log as the Merry Men came into view, followed by Robin, younger than he was back in their time, but still recognizable.

"Robin! It came from over there," Little John said.

"I'll find it," Robin said, approaching the log.

"We need to run," Katrina whispered.

"Why don't we just tell him?" Roland asked in an equally hushed voice.

"Yes, hello Papa. We're from the future, time is falling apart because of Emma Swan and Hook. I know your first wife and love Marian is back, but you need to leave her and also she needs to die. I'm sure it'll go over great."

"She doesn't need to die," Roland said. "And it was just a suggestion you don't have to be mean about it."

"I'm sorry, I'm just stressed out. And she probably do-"

"We're not killing her."

"I didn't say _we_ had to."

"Katrina."

"Roland."

"Run."

"What?"

"Katrina, run." He took off. She was stunned for a second, unsure of what to do, but came to her senses and followed him quickly.

"Robin!" Little John pointed towards the pair as they raced through the woods.

"Follow them!" Robin ordered and the Merry Men were in pursuit. He hesitated as the flash of a green cloak and a head of curly hair shone in the moonlight. It was just a silhouette, but there was something familiar about it. The way it moved and ran. Whoever the person was, Robin thought he knew them.

"Papa?" A small voice asked behind him. Robin turned to find little Roland in his pajamas clutching a stuffed monkey. "What's happening?"

Robin smiled and kneeled down to his son's level, picking up the five year old. "Nothing you need to worry about m'boy."

"Where's 'Gina?" He asked in a whimper, "I'm scared."

"She's not here right now."

"Can we go see her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Robin's jaw stiffened. It was hard enough trying to keep away from Regina, with Marian returning and her so lost in this new world he had to help her. Regina had pulled away, hadn't even given him a chance to explain. She had told him to be with his wife and he hadn't seen her since the night in the diner nearly a week ago. But even as he tried to go back to how it was with Marian, there was nothing there anymore. He felt nothing. And Roland was much the same.

He was always asking after Regina, always trying to find her when they went into town. And Marian was so angry at what had happened and he knew that he should be angry too. Regina had killed her. But that was the old Regina, the Evil Queen, and he had a dark past too. She was different now. She had changed. And so had he. He couldn't hate her for something that had occurred when she was so far gone in her pain that it didn't matter who she hurt.

He had felt that pain and had gone down his own dark path once too. He understood her. He was almost afraid of how much he understood her. And how little anger he carried for the past.

And all he wanted was to go back to her. It was worse without Regina. Much worse than it had been when he had lost Marian. There was a deep pain scarred over his heart and it was only deepening as time went on. He could run back to her, he should run back to her. Make it go away. But she wouldn't let him back in. He was sure the walls were back up. And she'd probably curse him for even stepping foot on her front lawn.

"He just got away from me," Marian said, breaking him from his reverie. Roland grimaced but Robin turned him around to face her.

"He does that."

"I'll have to keep a closer eye on him," she tried with a smile, which he returned to the best of his abilities.

"There's something I need to take care of."

"What's going on?" Marian asked.

"I don't know, but I must find out. Roland, go with your mother."

Roland shook his head but Robin gave him a stern look. The boy dropped his shoulders and hugged his stuffed monkey closer. Regina had given that to him. Just another reminder of how entwined she was in their lives. Roland couldn't let go of the monkey just like Robin couldn't let go of his thoughts of Regina. And he knew Marian could sense it, could see how much they had moved on. And he should feel bad, he was supposed to feel sorry, but there was something preventing him from feeling that. He cared for Marian, that was true, would always be true, but the love, whatever they had had, it was gone for him.

And he was sure he didn't want it back.

He left without another word to Marian, though she called after him. Roland stalked off to their tent as fast as his little legs could carry him with Marian following.

By the time she arrived at the tent, Roland was already in bed, hidden under the covers. She sat beside the lump in the bed, sighing.

"I know things are strange. They're strange for me too." She lifted the covers, "But Roland-"

And there was no one underneath. Just a pillow wrapped in some blankets. She ran out of the tent in search of her son.

\-----

"We're gonna go see 'Gina, Charlie. And get ice cream. And then Papa will find us and then we can go see Henry and things'll be normal," Roland whispered to the smiling face of the monkey as he walked through the woods. He had managed to put on a jacket and his hat, but he was still cold in his pajamas.

The woods were difficult to see in the dark. Trees littered every spot, making it impossible to run or walk without having to be careful where you were going, but Roland knew these woods and made his way towards the town.

He stopped when two figures ran a few yards in front of him, coming to a halt.

"Where are we going?!" Katrina asked, catching up to her older brother.

"The farm house."

"Do you remember where that is?"

"I have an idea."

They tried to catch their breath, but the cold made it difficult.

"You have an idea?" Katrina asked, disbelieving.

"I think it's that way." Roland pointed.

Katrina noticed the small boy approaching them. She smacked her brother and brought his attention towards his younger self.

"What?"

"You."

"Who are you?" The younger Roland asked.

"We're…uh…we're…" Katrina tried. She hadn't been a very good liar when she was younger and the years hadn't improved the skill.

"You're from back home?" Little Roland asked, noticing the way they were dressed.

"Yes! And…we need you to be real quiet about that."

"Why?"

Katrina looked to her older brother. He snapped out of whatever shock he was in.

"Because we're on a very special, very secret, mission and we can't have anyone know about it. Understand?" He said and the younger boy nodded enthusiastically.

"A mission. Does that mean I'm on the mission too now?"

Katrina knelt down to his eye level. "Why are you out here?"

"I went to find 'Gina."

"Do you think she'd like you out here alone?" Roland asked his younger self. It felt strange talking to the small boy, even worse when he was beginning to have memories of this moment in time.

"Well, you two are here now, so I'm not alone. You can take me to her."

Katrina snorted, but Roland had to be stern towards himself. In many ways he had to act like their father.

"No. You need to go back home. Your Papa is going to be worried and we have to hide."

"Because of your mission? I want to be on the mission too!" The five year old whined.

"You can't right now. But I promise when we need your help, we will come to you right away," Katrina told him.

"Pinky promise?" Roland held up his pinky finger. Katrina took it, making the pact they had done before in her past, his future.

"Pinky promise. Better yet, thieves honor." Katrina crossed her heart and little Roland nodded, the seriousness of the promise falling on him.

He turned back towards the camp, confused as to how she knew about thieves honor, but understanding that something bigger was happening. And he had a mission now too.

Katrina faced her older brother. "You're adorable," she said.

"Stop," Roland groaned. The voices of the Merry Men came closer. "Uh-oh."

An arrow smacked into a tree beside them.

"Well, we may not get a chance to complete our mission, since it looks like we're gonna die." Katrina pulled the arrow from the tree.

"Okay. New plan we run really fast towards town."

"No, you're done with the plans. Follow me."

Katrina sprinted into the darkness to the left with Roland following.

\-----

Little John led three men through the woods, checking for any sign of the intruders. He stepped softly on the cold ground, careful not to make a sound in case their quarry was nearby. But there was no sign of them.

"John, should we go back?" A young man, no more than twenty, asked.

Footsteps rapidly approached and the men turned around, bows raised, to face Robin coming out of the darkness.

"It's me."

"Robin? You should know better than to sneak up on us like that," John said.

"I should but I don't learn, you know that." Robin smiled.

"Where were you?"

"Roland needed to be put back to bed."

"And Marian?" John asked. Ever since the woman had returned John had noticed the change. Robin was tense, always tip toeing around his once wife. He didn't blame Robin, could never blame him and he knew that there was a connection his oldest friend shared with the former Evil Queen. But he felt for the returned woman. And if he was being honest, something had come back to him with her. A light, though he couldn't explain what it was. Only that he wished there was something to be done about the whole affair, something that would make everyone happy.

"With Roland," Robin answered, passing his friend and saying nothing further on the matter. "What of our new arrivals?"

"Gone."

"Did anyone get a look at them? What they were? Who they were?"

"We're not sure. We should tell the town, if there's a new threat, they'll need to know," John said.

"We will, but not yet. I want to return here at first light, find any evidence before we go shouting about danger," Robin responded, kneeling down in the dirt. There were boot prints, faint and faded, but they were there. Though it was difficult to tell who had made them. They could have been his own for all he knew.

John nodded, murmuring in agreement despite his misgivings. If there was danger, if magic had brought more danger, the people needed to be warned. But Robin was his leader and his oldest friend, he trusted Robin, so he would listen.

The group stayed in their place for a moment longer. From high above them, up in a tree, Katrina and Roland watched, waiting for the hunting party to leave. As Katrina readjusted her position, an arrow fell from her quiver. Roland caught it before it could hit the ground. They held their breaths, afraid to move. If a branch broke that would be the end of it.

Finally, the hunters dispersed and the siblings could breathe.

"Do you think there is danger?" John asked as they walked back to camp.

"I don't know," Robin admitted. There was nothing to suggest that someone was looking for a fight. "Why wouldn't they run?"

"Maybe they were too weak to fight," John suggested.

"Maybe," Robin considered but he was unsure. If they were too weak to fight, surely they'd be too weak to run. So who were they and what did they want?

\-----

As the footsteps faded away, Roland and Katrina began their descent from the tree.

"That was smart," Roland said.

Katrina smiled, "We need to find new clothes."

"What happened to no one noticing?"

"I may have overestimated everyone's unawareness."

"Yeah, well, next time we send younger me to distract them."

"I think maybe we should stay away from younger you for a while. I don't know what could happen with that," Katrina said as her feet hit the ground.

"But you promised me I could help."

"Oh my God, how old are you?"

"Katrina," he huffed. "You can't do that to him…to me, not with everything else going on. You said thieves honor."

She sighed. "Look, I don't know what to do about all of this right now. So first things first, we find a place to hide for the night then we get new clothes and start making a plan," she told him as they walked towards the direction of the farmhouse. "And we will give younger you something to help us with, deal?"

"Deal, but nothing that's gonna hurt me, okay? We don't need to add to the list of injuries."

"Roland. I don't care what you come up with, you can tell yourself that it's important we have snacks, it's up to you. But right now, we really need to get out of this cold. Understand?" she asked in a high voice. It mimicked when she was talking to his younger self, a sincerity and pitch for children.

"Why are you talking to me like that?" he asked.

"Like what?" The voice continued.

"Like you did to little me. Like I'm five."

"Because you're acting like you're five. I don't want to die in these woods, let's get out of here, please."

"The farmhouse isn't much further," Roland said as he took the lead.

"It better not be. I'm starting to be happy I don't have many memories of this place." Katrina pulled the cloak closer to her, trying to catch as much warmth as possible.

\-----

When Robin returned to camp Marian was waiting for him. There was a worried look in her eyes as she ran to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Roland. He's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"I don't know. I went back to the tent and he wasn't in it." She twisted her hands, glancing back to the tent.

Robin marched towards the camp, "Roland!" He ran around searching for the boy.

"He's here," Friar Tuck answered from the campfire. "I found him walking around by the tree line over there. Looked like he was thinking about having an adventure. Huh, Roland?"

Robin picked Roland up. "Thank you, Tuck." When they were a distance away he set his son down. A stern look in his eyes that reminded the boy of the man in the woods. "You know better than to run off like that."

"I didn't," Roland lied.

"Don't lie to me."

"I didn't run off. I was right here," he tried with a smile. Robin shook his head.

"That's not going to work."

"I couldn't sleep so I walked around. I want a story."

"Why don't you have your Mama read you a story?"

"I don't want her to read me a story. She's not good at it like you."

Robin conceded. "If I read you a story, then will you go to sleep?"

"I promise. Thieveses honor." Roland crossed his heart.

"Thieves," Robin corrected.

"That's what I said."

Robin chuckled, his anger all but forgotten as he lifted Roland over his shoulder. The boy giggled as they trekked towards their tent. It was moments like this that Robin wondered what Regina would have done. Would she let Roland get away with running off? Marian wasn't much for discipline, she was still learning how to care for Roland as he was, not the babe she was used to. Robin couldn't blame her for that. It was all new for all of them. But still, it didn't stop him from thinking of Regina and how she would care for his son.

\-----

"Do you think we should tell Henry?" Katrina asked after walking in silence for twenty minutes.

"About us?" Roland asked.

She shrugged. "He could help. I'm sure he wants to see Mom and Dad happy together too."

"I don't know. What if it messes things up more?"

"What can we make worse, I mean there's already the chance that I don't exist anymore, right? Not like I can un-exist more."

"I don't know," he repeated. "But once we get to the farmhouse we can think about it."

"How much further?" she asked as they stepped out of the tree line.

"Right there." He pointed towards the shadowed house. It was dark like the rest of the area around it except for a small light coming from the barn. The door was open and there was ice forming around it.

"Something's in there," Katrina said, as they approached. She removed an arrow and loaded her bow. Roland did the same with his.

"We should turn back," he said.

"And go where?"

She was right, there was nowhere to go. No one to go to. This was their only hope for the night.

Just then a woman with white hair exited the barn, her hands glowing with ice.

* * *

_to be continued  
_


	4. Breaking and Entering

“Who are you?” the woman asked, her magic surging as her fear took hold of her.

“Who are you?” Katrina returned, pulling the string taught, the arrow ready to be fired. Roland followed suit.

“I asked you first,” the woman responded.

“So.”

“So you should answer me! It’s polite. I am a Queen!”

“I’m a Princess.” Katrina smirked. “And we don’t respond well to threats.”

“Enough,” Roland said, lowering his bow.

“What’re you--” Katrina watched him.

“She’s not a threat.” He raised an eye brow to his sister, followed by an indication of his hand for her to lower her weapon. She shook her head, but he gave her their father’s look and she listened. “I’m Roland Locksley. This is my sister, Katrina. We’re not from around here. And I take it you’re not either.”

The woman shook her head. “I’m Elsa of Arendelle.” Her hand lowered, the magic disappearing. “Where is here?”

“Storybrooke,” Roland answered, “Maine.”

“Maine?”

“Oh God, okay, no more questions from you or we’re going to be here all night.” Katrina snapped her fingers, “But you need to answer mine, how’d you get here, frosty?”

“Katrina,” Roland warned, throwing up his hands and backing away. Elsa stared at Katrina.

“I do not appreciate you calling me frosty.”

“Fine, don’t need to be all cold about it,” Katrina muttered with a snicker. Roland placed a hand on his forehead, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, it’s just its really easy.” Her older brother glared at her. She backed down, hands up in surrender. “No more, I promise. Or prom-ice, if you will.”

He sighed.

“Sorry. Last one.”

“Elsa, how did you get here?” Roland asked gently.

“I was trapped by the dark one. I don’t know for how long, but it felt like a while. And then I must have fallen through a portal because the magic binding me was gone and I escaped. That’s all I remember.”

“Why’d he trap you? I mean he had to have a reason.” Katrina shrugged. “Right?”

“He’s the dark one. He needs no reason.” Elsa turned away to head back into the barn. “You should leave now. I need to be alone.”

“Wait,” Roland called after her. She stopped. “Surely you must have a family you want to get back to. We can help.”

“That’s not why we’re here,” Katrina muttered under her breath. Roland turned to her, almost begging with his eyes. She gave in, “But I suppose we can add it to the list.”

Elsa would have smiled if she had had the heart, but it had long grown cold like her. “You are very kind. But I have no family. Leave me.”

“But--”

“We need somewhere to stay!” Katrina shouted.

“That is not my concern. Go.”

“Elsa pl--”

“I said leave!” Elsa moved quickly. Magic firing from her hands to hit the ground in front of the siblings. Snow spread around them, a pile of it rising from the ground where the magic had hit. And with it a large snowman formed.

“Roland…”

“I see it, go.”

The pair took off back into the forest, their lungs burning and their muscles aching. It had been a long night and it was only getting longer. The monstrous snowman gave chase, roaring as it followed.

Katrina turned and fired an arrow, it sailed into the snowman’s stomach, absorbed by the magic keeping it alive. She fired another to the same effect, the third arrow missed completely. Two for three. Always.

Roland pulled her with him as they ran faster, the snowman continuing to chase until they tumbled down a slope, stopping when they hit a tree. It was silent after that. The snowman had either given up or done its job of chasing them away. Whatever its reasons for leaving them alone, Katrina and Roland were grateful it wasn’t out to kill them. At least for the moment it wasn’t.

“That was horrifying,” Roland said between sharp breaths. He was panting, his heart racing. He had run too much tonight and he was feeling the exhaustion of it.

“That was the second scariest snowman I have ever seen.” Katrina leaned against a tree, trying to catch her own breath.

“The second?” Roland asked.

“Yeah. Did you ever see the one dad tried to build like ten years ago? It was all weird and compacted and then it rained like the next day. I’ve never seen a snowman look so sad and so scary in my life.”

Roland nodded. He remembered how it had looked. The carrot had slumped into the lopsided mouth, the grin falling off to the side. The head had become largely misshapen from the rain and the arms had fallen off or landed on the side of the leg. It was one of the worst snowmen ever built. He hoped he still had that memory when this was all over.

“We need to find somewhere to rest,” Katrina said, snapping Roland back to reality.

“I don’t know where to go,” he replied. He sounded defeated, he was defeated and they were both so lost. They needed their family. They needed help. But there was no one here to help them, no one who knew them.

“Do you think we could double back to the camp?”

“Why would we go back there?”

“They’ll probably be asleep by now. We could steal some clothes and hide out until morning. It’s better than nothing and I’m sure they have a fire.” She shrugged. “And, honestly, I’d rather take my chances with the Merry Men and their shoot first ask questions later policy than Queen Blizzard and her monster snowman.”

Roland paced, forming a plan. “But they’ll have someone on watch. I don’t remember the patrols anymore there’d be no way to sneak past.”

“Then we go into town?”

He nodded. “I don’t think we have another option. There’s a clothing store we can borrow from.”

“You mean steal from.”

“What?”

“It’s not borrowing. It’s stealing when we keep it.”

“That’s what I said,” he tried but she rolled her eyes, “I feel better when I call it borrowing.”

“I don’t care what you call it, let’s just go.”

They walked through the forest back towards town as the night continued on. It got colder and darker, the night dragging on with each step. They were tired. They needed sleep, but they couldn’t stay in the forest. They would be caught or worse, freeze to death. They were slow and sluggish, doing their best to keep their eyes open, even going so far as to hold each other up. And when they thought they couldn’t walk any further, the town came into view, the street lights shining like a beacon to welcome them home.

The store was about a quarter mile in town. It was next to a bait and tackle shop that Roland had never once been inside when he had lived in Storybrooke. He barely remembered the stores but somehow he remembered their locations. Muscle memory, he thought, like how he could remember how to shoot a bow when he was half asleep or the one time he had almost drowned and still managed to shoot down a deer.

His muscle memory had kept him alive a few times before, but it could not remember how to pick a lock. He didn’t remember learning how to do that ever.

“We could break the window,” Katrina said as she pulled her cloak closer. The clock read that it was nearly two in the morning and the cold was getting worse. They would have to sleep outside for the night but at least with an added layer of clothes they could get through it. And in the morning they could work out a better plan.

“They’ll notice that,” Roland said, shaking the door handle. How did people do this? Did his father ever have to break a lock?

Katrina watched the perimeter. She knew there would be no one to spot them but it was an old habit. Whenever she and her brothers had been up to something, she was on watch. And she took it very seriously.

She glanced upwards towards a window. She wasn’t sure if it was locked but it couldn’t hurt to try. She tapped her brother on the shoulder pointing towards her observation once he finally looked up from his failed attempt at breaking in.

“Careful.” She steadied herself on his shoulder as he stood. She reached for the window as she rose. He was shaking, trying to maintain balance while he handled her weight.

“Hurry up,” he panted. She tried to lift the window but it wouldn’t budge.

“Dammit.”

“What?”

“Locked.”

“Son of a--” and before he could finish they fell. Katrina landed beside Roland, her side aching as the air left her lungs. She would definitely have another bruise. This night was not going very well at all.

“That’s it,” she grumbled before running full force into the door. It groaned under her attack but it didn’t break.

“What are you doing?”

“Breaking in. Help me.”

Roland shrugged, it was late, he was exhausted, there was no more room for sneaky. They ran together the door busting open at their combined momentum. Instantly the alarm sounded.

“Grab what you need,” he shouted over the alarm, snatching the clothes that would fit him. A pair of jeans, some flannel, sweatshirts, a jacket, he even grabbed a pair of boots. Katrina wasn’t too picky either, grabbing a t-shirt, flannel, and jacket as well with some jeans. They didn’t bother to change in the store, running out as fast as they had stumbled in.

The night hadn’t gone well, but at least they had the clothes they needed. Maybe it was all going to go up from this point forward.

And as they found themselves sleeping in the park, the plastic tunnel in the play area their shelter for the night, they could hear the Sheriff’s car coming down the street. No. This wasn’t going to get better. This was going to get a lot harder. But they were too tired to care at the moment.

8888888

“I live above the shop; I heard the alarm and immediately came downstairs then called you.” The shop owner was a man in his forties, a tailor back in the Enchanted Forest, he and his wife had run the shop for years in Storybrooke.

“But you didn’t see anyone?” David asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He hadn’t had time to make coffee when he got the call. Though if it had been an hour earlier, he would have already been awake. Neal hadn’t been sleeping through the night yet. The baby was always waking every few hours crying. And while David loved his son, he wished he would just let him get some sleep. Lucky for him, Emma arrived with two coffees in hand. She gave one to David with a smile.

“I figured you wouldn’t have time to make any.”

“You figured correctly.” He turned to the shop owner, “Thank you we’ll figure this out. I promise.” The shop owner nodded, heading back up to his home. David took a sip of his coffee, feeling warmer than the cold around them.

“So what happened?” Emma asked, holding her own coffee tightly, warming her hands. No one was quite sure why it was getting so cold so fast, even with being so close to the coast, but there hadn’t been any sign of magic causing it. And Regina wasn’t answering anyone’s calls to help figure it out. Henry had gone to the house a few times, but there was no sign of her.

“Break in. They stole some clothes. We think there’s two of them, one male, one female based on what they took.”

“They didn’t go for the money?” She asked as they walked into the shop, glancing around. Some clothes had been tossed onto the floor, as if the thief had been rifling through quickly. But there was no sign of anything else being taken aside from a few choice items. This was familiar to Emma. Something that she would have done when she was out on her own if she was desperate enough.

“What are you thinking?” David asked, noticing how she examined the disarray.

“They took what they needed, nothing more. And they chose carefully.”

“You think they’re homeless?”

“Possibly. But I think we would have noticed them by now, or someone would have. Especially if they’d stolen before.”

“So then what if they’re new to town?”

“And what if they’re the ones responsible for this cold?”

“Why would they break into a store? It doesn’t make sense. Unless they wanted to blend in, but they just drew attention to themselves when they broke in here. It all just feels--”

“Like they’re making it up as they go.” David looked around. His daughter was right. This wasn’t a plan. This was a reaction.

“Exactly.”

“Then we should find out who they are and what they want. They had to come from somewhere, right?”

“We better wake Mary Margaret and Killian. And someone should call Regina.” Emma stood from where she had crouched by a fallen shirt.

“You think she’ll answer?”

“I don’t know, but if there are new arrivals in town, she should know.”

David nodded in agreement. There was never a dull moment in Storybrooke and he was starting to wish there was. He was even starting to miss cursed Storybrooke where there wasn’t a new threat every other week. He just really wanted some down time. Everyone did.

* * *

 

_to be continued  
_

 


	5. Cold and Flu Season

The first thing Roland was aware of as he awoke in the park was his sister's coughing. It was only occasional, a hack here and there, followed by a wheeze and sniffle. But he knew the chill in the air was bothering her. He had slept outside a lot of times. He was used to the frigid conditions. She was not. She had grown up in the castle with the only camping trips being in the Spring or Summer.

But this was different, it was colder, and she wasn't prepared for it. And he knew if she got worse they would need help and that meant involving others.

Katrina seemed largely undisturbed by her coughing, the night had worn her out and she was sleeping with the cloak and jacket wrapped tightly around her.

That was the second thing Roland noticed as he woke. There was no one else in the park. To be fair he wasn't sure what time it was exactly, but the lack of people indicated early morning. He had always been an early riser, but it was still eerie waking before anyone else.

Roland shuffled out of the plastic tunnel, his neck and legs sore both from the endless running of the night before and the odd way in which he slept. Plastic tunnels were no comparison to his bedroom back in the castle or even a good old tent in the woods. But they had to make do with what they had at the moment. And having slept in a variety of places, he'd take a castle any day. Life had been good to him, life with Regina had been great to him, and he loved the castle. But there was something else about sleeping outside that he loved. The smell, the sound, it was all so open. And he felt free, happy, a small piece of a larger puzzle and all that poetic nonsense he wasn't good at saying aloud.

But he still preferred the castle.

He zipped up his jacket and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. They couldn't spend another night in the park. It was only going to keep getting colder. They needed to find somewhere to stay and they needed food. His stomach growled at the thought.

He glanced back to Katrina sleeping soundly. She wouldn't wake any time soon. He needed to find something to eat, if not for himself then for his sister. He left his bow in the tunnel with Katrina and threw his cloak over her. It was probably best not to walk around with weapons at the moment. He was already wearing stolen clothes, he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself.

With a final glance around to ensure no one had seen him, Roland headed towards the center of town and towards Granny's.

"Why is it so damn cold?" The old woman asked gruffly as she unlocked the door to the diner, allowing the early breakfast customers to come filing in. Leroy among them, already asking for bacon the second the door was open.

Ruby shrugged, pulling her own jacket closer as she headed out.

"Where are you going?" Granny asked, "I need your help serving."

"It's slow." Ruby indicated to the few people inside.

"That's not what I asked."

"I have a thing. I'll be back for the lunch rush."

"You're keeping secrets."

"I'm not."

Granny eyed her.

"I'll be back I swear." Ruby left as Roland entered. She watched him as she walked out the door, there was something about him. His scent. It was like she had smelled it before. But she had somewhere to be and wasn't going to dwell on the odd boy in the diner. It was probably a trick of her mind, a similar scent that she mixed up. But even as she tried to rationalize it, she couldn't put a pin on why it bothered her. She would tell Victor later, maybe he had a thought or two about it.

"Take a seat wherever you want, I'll be right with you," Granny told Roland as she tended to Leroy.

Roland took a spot at a corner booth and picked up a menu. It was then that he realized he didn't have any way to pay for the food he was about to get. But it was warm in the diner and he wasn't sure what to do until Katrina woke up. They needed a plan. And he was starting to miss home terribly. So when Granny came by to ask what he wanted, he ordered, and he felt stupid for doing so.

88888

Regina had more or less locked herself in her vault. With people showing up at the house, mostly Henry, she wanted to be left alone. And it hurt her to cut them out, to avoid Henry like all the rest, but she had to deal with her own emotions alone.

There was a moment when she felt some magic break into this world, something that felt akin to a portal and she wasn't sure why she felt it but she did. She brushed it aside, attributing it as an effect of the time portal and nothing more. Nothing more than her life being ruined by another Charming.

But there was something else, something odd in the way things were getting so much colder all of a sudden. And it couldn't be possible, not without magic. And she knew that despite her feelings she had to check it out, she had to know if her town was safe. If Henry was safe most of all.

So Regina left the vault, planning on making the trip quick, hoping to find the reason for the temperature drop before she could run into anyone she didn't want to see, namely the Charmings, or Robin and Marian, or Swan. Neither of her choices was particularly appealing, and she wasn't sure which would be the lesser of the two evils.

And Emma had left her a message about the break in, but she didn't much see the point of getting involved in a non-magical, non-town destroying villain. She was sure that mixed in with the "sorrys" and the information about the crime and the "we need your help" it was all a ploy to get her involved, to get her mind off of Robin, to forgive them. But she was never good at forgiveness, not in the way that others seemed capable of it. And she didn't have it in her, not when the pain was too raw, not when Robin and Marian were walking around town.

Literally. They were literally walking around town, where she could see. In all his honorable honor-ness, if she could call that a word, there he was, leading his wife by the hand and showing her the town. Regina stopped, hoping they wouldn't see her. And they didn't, thank God, but the day was already going south and she was losing interest in figuring out the temperature issue.

And there was something else, something bordering on insane, because she started to follow them, and then she couldn't stop. And she kept them in her sights as Robin continued to lead Marian by the hand, showing her the shops. And Regina just kept following, like a crazy person, for a reason she didn't entirely understand but still had to commit to.

She kept following even as her phone vibrated in her pocket. Another phone call she wasn't going to answer.

88888

"Where are you?" Katrina muttered under her breath over and over as she walked through Storybrooke. She had woken up an hour ago with the sounds of children running through the park. Well she hadn't woken, so much as been violently jumped on and fallen over as a group of kids clamored through the park.

She grabbed the bows and cloaks and stashed them at a tree before making her way back into town. But with the rude awakening, the events of the night before, and her nagging cough, it was all putting her in a spin. It didn't help that she could feel the hunger gnawing at her. It was all distracting. And she wasn't one to be a delight woken early, even worse when she was hungry.

So the two together wasn't pretty, and she felt sorry for the next person she ran into.

Which she did quite literally.

"Watch where you're-" She backed up, realizing who it was she had run into. The woman glared at her, the same glare. The same angered expression, about to give the same retort. "Whoa. Mo…Madam Mayor!" Katrina covered, clearing her throat. "I'm sorry."

Regina watched Robin and Marian head further away, unable to follow any longer and secretly grateful for the interruption and the reprieve. She looked at the girl before her, her head held high. She still had to put on airs; she was the mayor, well former mayor, after all.

"You should be." Regina was shocked at the lack of cruelty in her voice. She was losing her touch, but as she stared at the girl there was something else, something that prevented the way she would talk to others. Maybe it was the way the girl was unafraid to look at her, like she knew her, though there was something almost sheepish in the way she did so. It reminded Regina of Henry. Like this girl had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been. There was an odd feeling nagging at Regina, it was like she was looking at a photograph, like there was something she knew but didn't feel.

"Well I am," Katrina said, a slight cough interrupting her.

"Are you okay?" Regina asked.

"I'm fine." Though the cough begged to differ as it continued, "Or I will be."

Regina nodded in the same way she did in the future when she knew Katrina was lying. Katrina fought the urge to roll her eyes at the familiarity of the moment. This wasn't the future. This wasn't her time. She had to act carefully.

"Have we met before?" Regina asked and she was sure she had met this girl or at least someone like her. Maybe she had met this girl's parents? Regina wasn't sure.

Katrina shook her head. If there was ever a moment for her to become a better liar, it was this one. But Katrina Locksley was not a good liar, and she wasn't about to suddenly gain an affinity for it.

"I don't…I don't remember?"

"What?"

"It's possible, you know like with life and things. And curses. Small town. Probably." Katrina shrugged, her voice trailing off at the end. She stared at the ground, this was almost embarrassing.

There was a moment when Katrina was younger where she broke one of the mirrors in the castle. She had tried to lie her way out of it and it was a mortifying experience for all involved. To the degree that Robin didn't even want to punish her because the lie was so bad that he couldn't help but laugh. And Katrina spent two months on the lookout for bad luck which seemed to be punishment enough.

Regina watched the girl, her head cocking to the side, her eyes narrowed, trying to place the new face in town. Did she come over with the second curse? No, Regina had never seen this person before. Unless she was just some peasant who Regina had never noticed, but for some reason that seemed laughable. But she knew her, or there was something about her. It was the hair and the way she carried herself. It was like a shadow or a mirror. And then there were her eyes, the one's that looked like someone she was trying to forget.

It was all so scarily familiar.

And she was lying, the girl was lying, Regina knew it. Why? She had to find out. Who was this girl?

"Wh—"

"Oh my God, look at the giant clock I have to go. It's time for that thing." Katrina hurried away in what could only be described as the most suspicious half run possible. And when Regina bent down and found a torn clothing tag from the shop that had been broken into, she realized she was going to have to get involved in what was happening in her town again. And that meant getting involved with the Charmings and Swan and the one handed pirate and the person she didn't want to think about but had somehow been following for about twenty minutes.

Katrina glanced back at Regina who was still staring after her, so she picked up the pace. Her mother wasn't stupid; she would realize that Katrina didn't belong here. That she was new. It was just a matter of time. This wasn't good.

Or was it? Would it be easier if her mother just knew the truth? No. Showing up in someone's past to tell them of their future had never worked out. Case in point, the situation they were all in now. Yes, the circumstances were different, but it was the same idea.

Katrina saw Roland through a window sitting at a booth in Granny's, slowly picking through a plate of eggs and bacon. She threw open the door, barreling right for the booth as Granny and the patrons stared at her.

"We have a problem," she whispered, grabbing at the plate. Roland glared at her.

"Yeah. I don't have a way to pay for this," he said in a hushed voice that matched hers.

"Well that's your fault. And no that's not our problem." Katrina glanced towards Granny who was eyeing them from the counter.

"It's going to be."

"No, it'll be your problem. But mom knows or she saw me, I ran into her. She doesn't know but like she's mom."

"Did you try to lie?"

"Well what else was I going to do?"

"Katrina," Roland sighed, eating the last bite of bacon.

Katrina coughed again.

"You should get something to drink, or eat."

"We don't have any money."

"That didn't stop me."

"I'll find my own food."

"How?"

A pair of customers got up from their table, Leroy with them, all leaving money on the counter behind them. Granny had her back turned, focused on whatever conversation she was having on the phone. Katrina stood, heading for the half eaten plate of toast. Roland shook his head.

Katrina was careful to snag the bigger pieces, the ones without all the bite marks and she ate around them.

When she returned to the booth, Roland's mouth twisted in a disgusted frown.

"Free breakfast."

"If Papa saw that…"

"I would be awarded for my savviness."

A man in the booth behind them snorted. Katrina turned in her seat to address the man. He wore a leather jacket and a perpetual smirk.

"Can I help you?"

"Not at all," he said in a heavily accented voice, "I would tell you good work but thieves' code dictates that I saw nothing."

"That's right, nothing."

"What my sister means to say is thank you," Roland added.

The man stood. "And I'll say thank you in return."

"Thank you for what?" Roland asked but the man was gone. The money on the counter gone with him. Katrina stared at the table as she coughed once more, this one stronger than the others, ripping through her lungs like a shard of glass.

"Girl, you need some tea, come here," Granny called from the counter.

Katrina looked down sheepishly. "I don't have any…I can't."

"On the house," Granny replied, placing a mug of tea on the counter. "If you want to walk over and get it, or are your legs no longer working?"

Katrina did as she was told; taking the mug from the counter with a grateful nod, "Thank you."

"That one? Your brother?" Granny indicated Roland at the booth. He stared at the table, avoiding eye contact.

"Is it that obvious?" Katrina smirked.

"No money either, huh?"

Katrina shook her head.

"Can he wash dishes?" Granny asked.

Katrina turned to Roland, "He's very good at washing dishes. Ask our mother."

"I plan on it. And I also plan on asking why she's letting you two starve and go sick."

"You can't," Katrina said, but caught herself.

"Why not?" Granny asked, eyes narrowing.

"She…died."

Roland stood up, "No! No she didn't. She's, my sister, is a terrible person and liar. Why would you say that?"

Katrina shrugged. They both turned to Granny, an awkward smile on their faces.

"Are you two gonna be a problem?" The old woman asked and Roland and Katrina shook their heads with fervor.

"Good. Dishes are in the back." Granny pointed and the pair went to work. More patrons came and went as the dishes piled up and the siblings kept at it, working off the food they had eaten. Or rather, the food Granny had seen Roland eat.

88888

Emma had been avoiding Hook. Well, she was trying to but he wasn't having any of it. And as she and David made their way to Granny's, tired from the early morning break in and the following investigation that was leading nowhere, Hook found them.

"Swan," he said as he approached.

"I'll be inside," David said, leaving the two to their conversation.

"You've been avoiding me." He inched closer and Emma looked away.

"I haven't. I've just been…busy."

"That's not it, come on, love, I know that's not it. It's Regina isn't it?"

"No. I mean…yes, but no. I feel like…I don't know. I'm not going to apologize for saving someone, but it's like even when I do something right it's wrong."

He placed a hand on her cheek and she leaned into the touch before backing up again. "I don't feel like it's right for me to be happy when I'm supposed to bring back everyone's happy endings and I haven't done that."

"You're allowed to be happy, no matter what." He stared at her, as if trying to make her understand, to sear the words into her for her to believe them. But she just shook her head.

David exited Granny's, interrupting the moment as quickly as it had started.

"Emma, there's something you're going to want to see," he said, and she gave a half smile to Hook before following her father into the diner.

"I'll wait here," Hook added as he watched them go inside.

"Everything okay?" David asked, the door closing behind them, the bell ringing.

She sighed. "It's fine." But even she didn't believe it. "What did you want me to…"

She trailed off, seeing what David wanted to show her. The young man and teenage girl washing dishes in the back wearing the clothing that was stolen from the store this morning, their suspects, hiding out in plain sight.

"Some criminals," she said as she made her way to Granny.

"Sheriff, what can I get you?" Granny asked.

"I need to speak to your dishwashers," Emma said as the girl in the back made eye contact with her.

"Wh-" Roland started, as he noticed what Katrina was staring at, or rather who. She placed the last clean dish on the drying rack before walking out to face the inevitable. Roland following her.

"You called the Sheriff?" Katrina asked Granny, eyebrows raised, "After we washed the dishes? That's cold." She cleared her throat, the buildup making it scratchy. She was definitely getting sick and Katrina wasn't one to admit she was getting sick.

"She didn't call us. You two were just wearing the stolen merchandise. Want to tell us all about the break in?" David asked as he dropped the handcuffs on the counter. "We can do this the easy way or not, up to you."

Katrina let out a breath like she was fighting laughter, "I didn't realize people actually said that."

"I'm assuming we don't really have a choice in this?" Roland asked.

"Not when there are handcuffs on the table," Emma replied.

David took the handcuffs and approached Katrina as she exited from behind the counter. She put her arms behind her back as he clicked them tightly onto her wrists.

"Thank you for the tea," Katrina told Granny before she walked out with David.

"I really do want to thank you for the breakfast. It was very good." Roland smiled. Emma glanced between Granny and Roland as she cuffed him. He was way too polite for someone being arrested. And much too happy for a kid on the run. And it was clear that the two of them were on the run, but unfortunately, and she knew this well, regardless of the circumstances a crime was still a crime. And they were thieves even if they were just stealing for themselves which was something she understood.

And Emma didn't really want to arrest these kids. They didn't deserve it.

Katrina sat in the backseat of the police car as the door opened and Roland got in next to her. David heading to the passenger side but waiting to get in.

"Well, this turned out great." She sighed, staring at the front window down Main Street.

"At least we won't have to sleep outside again," he tried, shrugging, the optimism dripping in every word.

After the successful arrest Hook indicated the pair of criminals with a flourish of his hand and turning to Emma.

"I see you got your thieves. A bit younger than I thought they would be."

"Yeah," her voice dropped and she glanced back inside the car. "They were just stealing for survival. They don't seem…they're out of place."

"What does that mean?"

"I've never seen them before. Have you?"

"I'm not exactly a seasoned citizen of this town, so I wouldn't know. And I wasn't hanging around the enchanted forest much either in the past year. If they were there, I wouldn't know."

Emma turned to David, "Did you know them, before?"

David looked back inside the car, shaking his head in answer. "They're not from our kingdom."

Emma narrowed her eyes, thinking it over, who were they?

Hook was about to ask a question when the bellowing voice of Leroy rang out, "Snowman! Giant snowman!"

Leroy ran towards them, pointing wildly behind him. "It's a giant snowman!"

Hook and Emma looked towards where his finger pointed to see the exact thing Leroy was yelling about. A giant snowman, spikes coming out of its back, roaring like Godzilla and attacking the town just the same as Godzilla would.

"That's…seriously?" Emma asked, staring at it, bewildered. Who creates a giant snowman?

"Here we go again," Hook added, and the pair ran towards the danger, noticing an ice trail as they did so. David wasn't far behind, sword in hand, ready to fight whatever lay ahead.

"Roland," Katrina said inside the car, poking his shoulder, pointing to the commotion outside.

"What the Hell is that?" Roland asked.

" _That_ is an excellent distraction," Katrina told him with a smile as she worked to get herself out of her cuffs, Roland following suit.

* * *

_to be continued...  
_

_sorry for the wait everyone, I think I'm going to be writing this more in line with the show now too_


	6. A Little Help

_I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I'm going more in line with how the show did things...with some changes and liberties obviously. So at this point we are like at the end of 4x01. Anyway..._

* * *

 

“Do you think they’re following us?” Roland asked, breathless, as they ran.

“They’re dealing with a giant snowman, I don’t think they’ll even remember we were there,” Katrina replied, keeping pace with Roland. “Also, we can probably slow down.”

And they did so, settling into a walk instead of a run.

“So I think the plan needs to be adjusted,” Roland said.

“What plan?” Katrina asked.

“The plan you said you had.”

“Yeah I kind of don’t have one, or, it’s not working.”

“The not working part is obvious.”

“Shut up,” she half whispered as they stepped off of Main Street and walked down a quiet neighborhood road. The sounds of the raging snowman could still be heard, the magic trying to destroy it.

“What do you want to do?” Roland asked. Katrina shook her head, she didn’t know. She wasn’t good at the whole leader thing. Roland or Henry had always had the ideas and she’d follow along or contribute when she needed to. That wasn’t to say she wouldn’t take the lead, especially in a stressful situation where her headstrong nature would take over, like now, but she knew when to step back.

“What do you think we should do?”

“Wow, you’re asking my opinion? Is this real life?” Roland laughed to which Katrina responded with a light push.

“Alright,” Roland continued, “Well we can’t sleep in the park again.”

As if on cue Katrina felt a cough tear through her throat. Off Roland’s concerned look she shrugged, “I’m fine.”

He shook his head, “We can’t sleep in the park,” he repeated before continuing, “And the snowman thing, that’s…I don’t remember that. And now that Sheriff Swan knows we stole from that shop, and has seen our faces, the hiding thing isn’t going to work either.”

“We can’t tell them,” Katrina argued.

“Why not?”

“Imagine I came up to you and I was like hey see that kid, that’s your kid in like ten years, what would you do?”

“I’d freak out.”

“You’d freak out! And then like what if it didn’t happen? I can’t not exist, Roland, that’s terrifying.” She swallowed, her pulse starting at the thought of non-existence. And she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t scared and that idea scared her to death.

“Okay,” Roland held up his hands trying to calm her down, “Okay. But we need help.”

“Henry,” Katrina said, the thought dawning on her. She wanted to smack herself for how stupid she was at not thinking of her oldest brother. He was the truest believer, he would help them, he’d believe them and better yet he wouldn’t tell their parents.

“We can tell Henry. He’s always been there for us, why would now be any different?” She could see the gears turning in Roland’s head. He didn’t used to think things through so much, at least not when they were younger, but as the years progressed he had grown into a man who weighed pro’s and con’s seriously. Katrina wondered where he got that from because she fell more into the reckless side of things.

“What if he tells mom?”

“He won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s Henry.”

“Good point.” Roland nodded, “Let’s find him.”

\---

It only took a few hours. A few hours, threats of vengeance, some more than threats of vengeance, and several tears before Regina did the right thing and destroyed the snowman. She saved Marian. She saved the woman who was now back from the dead, who was reunited with the true love Regina was supposed to have. The same woman whom Regina had killed decades earlier. And she had saved her. She had a second chance and she had taken it.

So why did it feel so awful? Why did it hurt so bad?

Deep down Regina knew why, knew that maybe she deserved this pain, but it was easier to blame others, to shovel that pain down and use whatever anger she had left to fight it.

But even more so she knew that she could only fight it for so long.

And she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she had gotten some minor joy in seeing Robin’s face again. And she hated herself for it.

Emma had come and gone, making her promises to bring back her happy ending and all the more Charming Savior motivational speeches that Regina couldn’t take. She didn’t want hope right now. She just wanted to be left alone.

But she didn’t really want that either. She didn’t know what she wanted.

She just wanted everything to go back to how it was, when she felt that happiness that she hadn’t had in a long time. She wanted that back. And she knew there was no going back. So there was nothing left to do but be alone.

But another knock on the door made that impossible.

“Go away, Miss Swan,” Regina croaked and she meant it to sound threatening but it just sounded sad.

She heard the vague muttering of a swear from a voice that didn’t belong to Emma Swan or any one of the Charmings. But she had a good memory and she knew she had heard that voice earlier that day.

Regina pulled herself up from where she sat against the door and pulled it open. The girl from earlier was halfway down the hall, hurrying to get away but Regina was calling after her.

“What the Hell are you doing?” Regina asked chasing after her.

“I’m sorry, wrong door,” Katrina called back. This was a mistake. Why would Henry be at their mother’s office? Why did she and Roland split up…again? Emma would probably be looking for them but it was getting dark and they were getting desperate. Jail was actually starting to sound like the best option.

“No. Hey. Why are you following me?” Regina caught up to her and Katrina was forced to stop.

“I’m not,” Katrina argued.

“Then what are you doing?”

“I needed to talk to someone who isn’t here.” Katrina sighed. The best way to lie was to tell the truth in a way that wasn’t the truth. It wasn’t great, it didn’t work, but she felt better about it.

“Who?”

Katrina shrugged, avoiding her mother’s gaze. No, she wasn’t her mother, not yet, not in this time, she couldn’t think like that. It only made things more difficult and more complicated.

“Who?” Regina repeated.

“It doesn’t matter, they’re not here. Though, you look like you need someone to talk to.”

“Excuse me?” The defenses were back up as Regina bristled but Katrina could always read her mother, even if she wasn’t her mother right now, and that meant she knew how to talk to her.

“I heard what happened. Time travel, messy stuff.”

“That’s personal and you should leave.” Regina started to turn back but stopped herself, “And whoever you heard it from needs to keep out of other people’s business.”

“True. But do you really think crying alone in your office is the best solution?”

“What do you know about it?”

“Nothing. I’m just saying.”

“Well don’t.”

Katrina didn’t have much of a response to that. Thankfully or un-thankfully a cough broke up whatever she would have said or not said.

“Sorry. I’ll be on my way.” Katrina cleared her throat.

“Who are you?” Regina asked, stopping her, “You lied earlier today and you’re new, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve always been here.”

“No. You show up and a giant snowman shows up. What did you do?”

“Oh I had nothing to do with that. I don’t do the magic thing. Plus, a giant snowman, if I was going to come up with a monster to terrorize the town, it wouldn’t be one that turns into a puddle when it gets warm,” Katrina said with a smile and there was something about it that put Regina at ease and that lessened whatever pain she was in. It was like Henry and how he knew what to say, what to do, she just felt better.

“Right,” Regina answered, lost in her thoughts and Katrina was ready to slip away.

“Not that it’s any of my business, but if it’s meant to be, it’ll be,” Katrina said quietly through the scratchy throat that was threatening to bring about a coughing fit. She was getting tired of this whole sick thing. She was never a fan of it back home, and even less so now when she had a mission to get done.

“Who told you that, the hope police named the Charmings?”

“Yeah, actually. I mean, look, they can get irritating but they’re not wrong. True love, it always finds a way even if it’s not easy or in the way you expect.” Katrina shrugged, “Something to think about.”

And Regina did think about it, she had been thinking about it. How could she not? But it couldn’t happen now, true love couldn’t find a way in this case. She was doomed to be alone, doomed to have hope and continuously have it taken away. She was a villain.

Regina felt ready to break all over again, tears threatening to fall. And she wouldn’t share with a stranger, not like this, she wouldn’t cry in front of them but she was in too much pain, it was flooding, and the day had been long and draining.

Katrina watched her mother fighting back the tears and her heart broke. She had seen her mother cry, she had heard her before, but not like this. This woman in front of her wasn’t her mother, not yet, not in the way that she knew her but there was a hint of her in there. A hint that Katrina could latch onto even when she was witnessing sides to her she hadn’t seen before.

Katrina walked away, leaving Regina lost in thought. And she wanted to tell her that she could have her happy ending, that living proof of it was right in front of her. But she couldn’t tell her. She just had to fix it and save her family. Save her future.

And Regina stood in the hallway, her thoughts of finding the author and claiming her happy ending running until she realized she never actually got the girl’s name or any semblance of the truth of her origins. And even more she had never actually found out what the girl wanted or who she was looking for. And then Regina went from sad to annoyed to determined.

She was going to figure out who the new stranger in town was and she was going to find the author. And she would do it alone.

* * *

 

_...to be continued..._


End file.
